Monkeypox: Is it the new pandemic?

Since the start of the monkeypox (MPX) outbreak and as of September 1, 2022, at least 18,463 confirmed cases of MPX have been reported worldwide (Figure 1). The WHO Director‐General declared MPX as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on July 23, 2022. Some scientists have commented that the surge in cases was an outbreak that was bound to happen after the end of vaccination against smallpox globally around 40 years ago. The head of the smallpox team, a part of the WHO Emergencies Programme, said that what is unusual about this current outbreak is that the countries usually spared from MPX are now reporting outbreaks of the virus.


| INTRODUCTION
Since the start of the monkeypox (MPX) outbreak and as of September 1, 2022, at least 18,463 confirmed cases of MPX have been reported worldwide ( Figure 1). 1 The WHO Director-General declared MPX as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on July 23, 2022. Some scientists have commented that the surge in cases was an outbreak that was bound to happen after the end of vaccination against smallpox globally around 40 years ago. 2 The head of the smallpox team, a part of the WHO Emergencies Programme, said that what is unusual about this current outbreak is that the countries usually spared from MPX are now reporting outbreaks of the virus. 3 2 | HOW DID IT START, CURRENT, AND EXPECTED PROGRESSION?
The current outbreak began with the first case being confirmed on 6th May 2022 when a British resident who had traveled from Nigeria on 4th May presented symptoms of the MPX virus.
However, a while later, it was reported that out of the seven cases, only the first had a recent travel history to Africa. 4 This indicates that community transmission is taking place. Some experts commented that four of the seven cases seen in England in the past 2 weeks were found in homosexual or bisexual men, and this is suggestive of sex being a driver of transmission. 4 However, others are doubtful of this theory, especially because there's no history of MPX being sexually transmissible. 4 The current outbreaks are worrying because there has not been a precedence of extended chains of human-to-human spread of the virus before. open reading frames ORFs >180 nucleotides long. 1 One study predicts that four lineages are circulating in the reservoir population currently. 1 It was initially isolated and identified following an occurrence in which monkeys being moved from Singapore to a Danish research laboratory became sick. 6 That's how the virus got to be named "monkeypox." The illness is especially common in Central and Western Africa; a variety of rodents and nonhuman primates serve as animal hosts.
The virus is spread by direct or indirect contact with skin lesions, body fluids, or respiratory droplets of infected animals. 5 The symptoms initially include pyrexia, headache, fatigue, and lymphadenopathy, which is a symptom that mainly sets apart MPX from smallpox. 5 After a few days, mucosal lesions appear in the mouth, followed by skin sores on the limbs and face. The total number of lesions may range from a few to several thousand. 3 Other skin disorders, including as measles, chickenpox, scabies, and bacterial skin infections, should be investigated as differential

| RECOMMENDATIONS
A few steps are essential in preventing the spread of MPX further.
One way to reduce its spread is by identifying cases and possible

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Abdulqadir J. Nashwan is an Editorial Board member of Health Science Reports and coauthor of this article. He is excluded from editorial decision-making related to the acceptance of this article for publication in the journal. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
All data generated during this study are included in this published article.

TRANSPARENCY STATEMENT
The lead author Abdulqadir J. Nashwan affirms that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned (and, if relevant, registered) have been explained.